Wed 03 Sept 2008 - Ventnor Botanical Gardens.

This week we were back at another old favourite - the Botanical Gardens. As per usual, the grounds staff had plenty of work for us to tackle - including trimming the willow dome (that we built sometime ago) and grubbing out overgrown hedges up in the meadow areas. We had an excellent turnout and only a short shower to dampen our spirits..!

The above pictures show the willow dome "before and after" - from Punk to Prim in just a couple of hours. Thanks to Eddie for the photos.

These two photographs show the area we were clearing from the outside and inside. The trees had overgrown the footpath through the meadow so needed major surgery to regain access. Another group were involved with clearing out the undergrowth along the hedge at the top of the meadow. All in all, a very busy day....! Thanks to Carrie for the above pics and for the nature lesson this week.

NATURE LESSON. - (Photographed during the GG this week.)

The fungi is called Postia, which is one of the soft rather than the usual hard bracket fungi. The insect (between the two lower fungi) is a Harvestman, sometimes called a harvest spider. They are often confused with true spiders, but are easily distinguished from the latter by their globular body, which has no obvious constriction or ‘waist’ between the front and hind sections. They live in hedgerows, parks and gardens amongst rough vegetation or on tree trunks, walls and fences.